Friday, November 19, 2010

Buffy vs. Edward

So I was having this conversation today about the role of the slayer in vampire mythology (don’t ask – many of my daily conversations end up supernaturally related) and the conversation took a turn when I started to speculate on what would happen if Buffy came out of nowhere and slayed our sparkly, romantic Edward. It was very entertaining as a visualization, let me tell you!

Anyway, during this conversation we were discussing the role of the hero and whether or not it pays to put the effort into being one. It takes a lot of work to become the hero, not only is there physical training but you must also learn the information (folklore usually) you need to defeat the villain, as well, it usually involves some kind of emotional gutting – losing one’s family or friends, physical pain and injury, etc. We were also talking about whether or not the hero is truly good – is it black and white any more or are we okay with a villain who can sometimes be good and a hero who can sometimes be evil? I mean, the hero has to have an element of evil in them to be able to murder/destroy another creature even if that creature is inherently evil.

So back to my fantasy. If, for all intents and purposes, Buffy is considered the hero as the slayer, you know, using her powers to kill those nasty, evil vampires – then what would happen if she slayed someone in the vampire race whom we consider a hero also? What if she killed him purely because she sensed a vampire and, as it is her duty to slay them, does so without asking any questions or getting any background information first? What about Blade for that matter? He wouldn’t give a crap about Edward's motives or lifestyle – vampire = dead in his world. So does the slayer then turn into the villain?

Personally I would say no – but I’m partial to the fantasy of beheading Edward - what do you all think? If Buffy or Blade beheaded a beloved vampire character because they were acting on their own slayer instinct, would you demonize them for it?


  1. Edward sparkles... therefore he is evil, or a unicorn. If he were a unicorn then Buffy and Blade would not feel the urge to slay him and if they did feel the urge to slay him, then he's evil. LOL - like my circular logic?

    No, there is nothing wrong with Buffy or Blade killing vampires... It's kind of what they do and 90% of the vampires in most worlds are kind of asking for slayage as it is.


  2. I'm with you on beheading Edward - off with his head ;)
    Remember how Buffy didn't kill Angel right away, she waited for him to turn all bad and mean - so maybe she'd wait a bit on Eddy, too... and then he'd spark and she'd stake him. But humans make mistake, don't they? I'm sure Buffy would feel remorse - but then she's die because Bella (or trillions of fans) would kill her for it.
    It's a complicated question...

  3. I wouldn't. Sometimes the hero has to act on instinct. There are innocent casualties in all wars, even paranormal ones.

  4. Strange enough, Buffy never killed Angel or Spike. In fact they were friends/lovers, and Blade is in fact a daywalker (vampire)just like Stefan and Damon. So, in answer to your question, although writers often protect the villan who is good, but theoretically a slayer would just be doing his/her job by slaying a vampire. Does it make her/him bad? I'd say no. Just as it doesn't mean a vampire is a bad person because their instinct is also to seek sustenance (blood). It's not always simple black and white. That's why we leave it up to the writers to decide the plot. Good blog Angela. Great thinking about the inherant qualities of good and evil, and what we think about them. :) p.s. when did you find the time to blog while doing revisions and working? Wow! I'm impressed!!

  5. Well as I am definitely NOT Team Edward, I'll point Buffy and Blade in the proper direction of Forks.

    Having said that, there are shades of gray. Do they kill him knowing he isn't evil? Or do they just follow the vampires are evil and must die plan without checking into the details?

  6. I'm all good with the beheading of Edward! Bring it on! I wouldn't even pause much for the slaying of the Anne Rice vampires. Black Dagger Brotherhood...that might get me riled. ;) It would also be on helluva fight to see.

    I like my heros and villians to be multifaceted. I loved Interview with a Vampire and The Vampire Lestat BECAUSE they showed the two different POVs. So I like the shades of grey.

  7. Thanks everyone! I was feeling very productive and this post came spilling out of me in a few back to the rewrite!

  8. Oooohhhh, very tricksy there Angela, its swings and round abouts to be honest it depends which angle that you take and from which POV you go for.

    Good fun to speculate but you could argue it each way.

  9. I take it you all saw the you tube clip of Buffy killing Edward? A collection of actual scenes from the shows. It very very good.


  10. No, I haven't seen it but I'm going to check it out now...sounds funny!